Hong Kong's copyright laws: Recent developments and dilemmas

In January 2005 a Hong Kong resident was arrested and charged with distributing three Hollywood movies over the internet using BitTorrent software. At his trial, the prosecution argued that the defendant's actions amounted to the criminal offence of "distribution" under section 118 (1) (f) of the Copyright Ordinance. The defence countered that defendant's actions in uploading the files to his computer did not constitute distribution and amounted to no more than "making available" copyright materials-which was covered under civil provisions in section 26 of the same Ordinance. The defendant was found guilty and became the world's first BitTorrent user to be criminally convicted of piracy. The case has opened up strong debate in Hong Kong, with moves afoot to introduce a new raft of copyright legislation.